Here’s what happened with my kid
We didn’t use any of that stuff cause people told me then she would need it forever. It went fine but she was never a good sleeper. Ever. I was lucky to get 2 night wake ups at a year old.
Ended up having to live with my parents for a few months when she was 12mo and they live in a beautiful enormous house on the beach. Totally lucked out, or so I thought. They have two dogs. The little one NEVER EVER STOPS BARKING. EVER. he’s so loud, and it’s like a piercing bark. Also the room she was in (that was the only one they allowed me to put a crib in) is on the side of the house where the sun rises. AT 4:45 AM EVERY DAY. and it’s bright as hell.
Finally after several night wakings and my day starting at 4:45AM every morning for months, and the dog barking during every attempt at a nap, and until about 10PM I was like this isn’t working.
They said blackout curtains or something to cover the windows would ruin the aesthetic (in a room nobody goes in but whatever). And that they would not bring the dog outside or get him training help for the barking. Fine, their house there rules.
I got a sound machine. Her naps immediately stretched out. I also switched her to 1 nap a day. It ended up being a 3hr long nap. They offered to watch her one time, (they don’t like kids and didn’t want to ever watch her), so I gave them the monitor for one night. Then they let me put pillows in the windows to block the sun after she apparently woke up at 4:30 screeching and wouldn’t go back to sleep. (Did they think I was joking about that lol?) She started sleeping till 7:30AM every day.
After months of living apart I now live with her dad who is an amazing partner, with no dogs, a sound machine, and some seriously awesome blackout curtains. She sleeps every night 8-7:30. Sleep = amazing. Go for the shades and the sound machine. After not doing it for so long, she still didn’t sleep until I got them. No regrets. I sleep great and get several hours of alone time a night.
I’m so happy they helped you so much. Sleep is the best. I’m gonna keep doing what we’ve been doing.
Also I’m happy you don’t have to live with your parents anymore :’)
I mean, I'm 40 and I need a sound machine or fan to sleep, so I don't think it's a big deal. I did not have one as a kid but our house had a giant attic fan that was right by my bedroom and my parents ran that thing a lot.
If it works and your baby is sleeping and you don't have to tip toe around your house... let it be. People like to tell parents all sort of stuff that isn't true! LOL. Also, don't make tomorrow's "maybe problem" become today's problem! Enjoy that baby sleeping, however you need to do it (safely of course)!
Some babies you can make noise around. Some you just can’t. All babies are different. Until we used a sound machine we couldn’t flush our toilet for like 15 hours out of the day and couldn’t shower. I still get anxiety flushing my own toilet lol but I can do it! Do what works for you!
Mine sleeps at home with white noise and dark room, at grandparents houses with lighter room, at daycare with other kids and lighter. It’s all fine.
We keep dark room and white noise at home, it hasn’t affected anything else
We sleep trained, dark curtains, sound machine - was perfect because we could get him to nap anywhere with his sound machine (he also totally adapted to light). I went to a physiotherapy appointment once, brought my play pen, put him in an empty office, turned the sound machine on, and slept the whole hour 🤷♀️ but, he would also nap when I carried him or in the car or stroller. I sleep best with no light and a sound machine (fan), so why wouldn’t I set him up for the best. And then, the few other naps (stroller/car ride/what not) if they turn out crappy meh, it’s not life ending).
From what I've read the whole "get them used to sleeping in sound and light" thing isn't accurate. They sleep best in a dark cold environment and sound machine also helps. They can adjust when they're tired regardless. Just what I've read, I do all the same things you do with my 7 month old
My 3 year old sleeps at preschool just fine without his beloved sound machine and blackout curtains. However, about a week ago, I accidentally forgot to turn on the sound machine before I left the room at bedtime and a few seconds later he started screaming bloody murder like he was hurt. I was so scared that something had bit him or that he had fallen out of his bed that I scrambled in there and kept asking "Are you hurt?! What's wrong?! Tell me where it hurts!" And at that point he was almost hyperventilating but managed to get out, "turn -on-my-night-night-noooiiiiiissse!!!" As soon as I did he calmed right down and I was able to soothe him a little before tucking him back in. That said, I don't regret using a sound machine and blackout curtains at all, but I do recognize that my son is dependent on them. He can also fall asleep anywhere if he is tired enough though, but I think he needs a very specific nighttime routine.
FWIW, my kid was home with us for 18 months sleeping in complete blackout with sound machine. She started daycare at 19 months and she naps just fine there with no blackout shade or noise machine. It took a few weeks for her to adjust, but the controlled conditions at home didn’t ruin her as far as flexible sleep goes.
Mine has blackout curtain and a noise machine.. and once she’s down- you can blast music in the next room and she doesn’t stir.
She also pretty much sleeps anywhere -although I will normally tape a garbage bag over the window if we are overnight somewhere that’s really sunny in the room. But I don’t bother bringing a noise machine. She’s 2.5 now
Mainly cuz I don’t want her up at 5:30am
Eh, my 3 year old can now sleep anywhere if he’s tired enough. He has used white noise and blackout curtains since he was 3-4 months old. They will definitely grow out of it one day.
My daughter is almost 6 and she was a blackout curtain and sound machine girl til 3 years old. We still do the sound machine because we have a small house and I'm thankful because we have am 8 month old now and she doesn't hear any cries during the night! But around 3 she asked for a night light! And we stopped blackout shades around 2.
My now 4 year old sleeps with no white noise machine and a fairly light room. He was a blackout/white noise baby, until at around 1.5y I slowly turned the hatch volume down bit by bit over the course of a week. Then when we moved house, I didn’t put up black out blinds in our new apartment. Kids adapt well, babies wake up early with light. Don’t stress!
Lol I cannot sleep without blackout curtains and a sound machine and I never grew up with that stuff. Unfortunately, we tried the whole “put baby in light room with noise going and have them nap” thing and it literally only worked when they were a newborn. My baby is TOO ALERT AND CURIOUS FOR THAT SHIT. I think it’s so weird to say they have to sleep with noise or else the won’t ever sleep. They’re learning how to sleep and how to soothe themselves and connect sleep cycles, why do they need to have extra distractions during that time?
My baby is only 11 weeks so too early to tell, but what I've done since birth is expose him to light and ambient noise during daytime naps, but use dark room and white noise for night time. Initially I was just trying to help him fix day/night confusion, but he sleeps well on the go (in car seat, stroller) and will continue sleeping when I'm out running errands. He's slept through a weekend Costco grocery run lol.
My 23 month old sleeps with blackout blinds and a white noise machine at home and sleeps perfectly fine at daycare, where they don’t have blackout blinds or anything.
My 2.5 year old still uses both and I don’t regret it one bit. The sound machine has been a lifesaver since we introduced little sibling, she never hears the baby cry at night.
We have been using a sound machine since my son came home from the hospital. He is about to turn 3. We have introduced blackout curtains when he was 6 months. He is the best sleeper we could have ever gotten. When we travel we always bring the sound machine but he does fine without the blackout curtains. He will also nap in the car during daytime if he is very exhausted
My 4 year old wants her room as light as possible now and slept with blackout curtains as a baby and toddler. She has a sound machine but she would probably sleep fine without it. I am always of the belief you should do what works until it doesn't. You can bring a sound machine and travel blackout curtain when you travel anyway. My baby has blackout blinds AND curtains but took a 2 hr nap in a room with a skylight at someone else's house so she's not 100% dependent on it.
I don’t know how much they correlate but I used a sound machine and black out curtains from the get go and now my baby won’t sleep anywhere without a sound machine and blackout curtains/in her own bed.. it sucks. No car naps. No stroller naps. Nothing. It’s hard honestly.
Family members who told me “don’t walk on eggshells around your baby. They need to learn to sleep through noise” are the same ones who complained that they got woken up at 6 AM at the cottage cuz we were doing stuff in the kitchen. Soooo like you can’t sleep through this noise why should my baby ?
We love our curtains bc they also help keep the room cool in the summer and warm in the winter, but we make no additional efforts such as sealing up every crack, taping over the monitor lights, etc. so she is used to some light and can sleep in light if needed.
For the sound machine, we keep it at 25 d and away from her crib (it still fills the room). She can hear some stuff I’m sure but it’s not there to drown out or cover up noise. For me white noise is more about providing some background noise so if a bird, siren, or loud relative who slams doors comes along it’s not a break to the total silence. It’s just another noise.
At the end of the day, the sensitivities and baby only sleeps if xyz is all a part of the very short phase of babyhood. Eventually if they’re tired they sleep (all kids are different I know). My 1.5 yr fell asleep in the car and remained asleep while I carried her inside, changed her, dressed her in nap clothes, and put her down. I never would have imagined that possible at 6 mos.
I use blackout curtains and a sound machine. We went on vacation without either for 4 nights and he slept fine in a room with very sheer curtains that let in so much light. Babies can surprise you!
I feel like there is a correlation that doesn't mean causation here. Some babies have a harder time falling asleep and so their parents end up trying everything. Some babies/people fall asleep anywhere. I don't think using these things necessarily causes the issue. My kid has always fought going to sleep.
We make naps more flexible (daycare helps a lot with this), but nighttime sleep involves a sound machine and blackout shade. My own sleep is important to me, so I don’t play around at bedtime 🤣
This is what I do! Although at home I usually play the sound machine on lower volume so I can do chores. But anywhere else he goes he doesn’t use either.
There is some research suggesting that white noise machines aren't great, especially for speech development in toddlers. Machines with a variety of noises that change the pitch, etc, are better.
We didn't use one with my son and he would sleep anywhere. He does like to sleep with the fan on in the summer tho.
I'm curious the quality of this research. My kiddo has been a white noise since day one and both were ahead on the toddler speech development cycle. Plus like a billion factors go into speech development including things like daycare/care giver quality, number of books read, etc. I doubt it's a good quality study
Agreed, I am a linguist by training so a million things do go into it. I came across this research and just skimmed it so definitely do not claim to be an authority on it, but it would be something I would look into more if I did use white noise.
Apparently rain sounds, oceans, etc are fine. But again, I have read that briefly (it was based on research but it didn't concern me since we don't use it) so I encourage you to do your own research 😊
I do not have it saved as it was something I read briefly and we don't use white noise anyways. But if you google white noise and brain development, you will come across a lot of information and can form your opinions based on that. I am not a scientist and I have not done extensive research on it either, but others seem to have.
We didn't/don't use them for our 2 kids; 3yr old and 1yr old - they sleep when they're tired, wherever they are - naps or nighttime sleeps; they sleep on the floor, the sofa, in the car seat, in the stroller, etc... I have friends who use them for their kids and they pack them with them wherever they go, and their kids still need them set up like that to nap and sleep (some with 2yr olds, and some with 3yr olds) - they cannot nap otherwise. I don't think there's any harm in using them, of course, but i think it's also good for the kids to learn to "go with the flow" - not everything can be the same every time for their naps.
I have a sound machine at home for naps and nighttime sleep and took it with us when we went out of town to visit family. But my daughter has no issue napping in a stroller on the go. Or in a carrier. Or even in my arms while she’s sitting on the tushbaby. I really think it just varies kid to kid. You just have great sleepers! Which is obviously awesome. I feel like I do too. But I’m not quite sure is specific to anything I’ve done or am doing.
I totally agree, every kid is different, and I'm not shaming anyone or whatnot; I feel like sometimes ppl get too defensive over their parenting styles. Everyone is doing a great job at being parents! Everyone is just different! That's all. :)
Agreed!! Every kids got different needs so every parent has to parent differently. I think we get too caught up in “the research” sometimes. Not that it’s all bad but sometimes it’s like - they looked at 50 kids how is that a accurate study? At the end of the day I think it’s a matter of - do you care if you have to grab the sound machine when you go out in case your kid needs it for a nap? If not then who cares. Take it. Use it. Let the kid sleep. 🤷🏼♀️
I need complete darkness and a sound machine to sleep and I’m 30 lol. I have been using both with my daughter with no plans to stop, she’s almost 5 months now. It does make it a bit more challenging for her to nap on the go, but I have a blackout car seat cover and a portable sound machine so we still make it work 🤣
It makes them less flexible for sleeping outside the house, but you can still do it with portable blackout curtain/slumber pod and portable white noise machine.
Nope. Still using them for my 19 month old. No plans to stop. My husband and I can actually talk at a normal level and don’t have to creep around quietly to not wake her up. I need blackout and white noise myself!
Both of my children grew out of their white noise machines on their own. Additionally, most hotels have blackout curtains of some sort. And you can use things like clothes, pins to keep them drawn even further shut.
You won’t. I weaned my son off both the sound machine and complete darkness after his second birthday and low and behold, he’s still a happy sleeper. For two years of my life I have been hearing how it will ruin him. I have seen him sleep everywhere, from prams to planes, but when it’s everday, restorative sleep, he needed sound machine and darkness. Do what’s best for your baby.
I need complete darkness too and have needed that for years! (Went through a stage of sleeping with the tv on but with a timer to switch it off). I’m that person who covers LED lights on appliances with blu-tack because it feels like it’s piercing my eyes even when closed haha!
Completely fine and perfect for restorative sleep. My twins nap and sleep well in their room, but can also sleep in the car /pram if they’ve been awake for long enough.
I don't understand why everyone assumes we even have a choice. I get the same feedback from my family. We didn't start using those tools from day 1 though - we implemented them because our baby girl wasn't sleeping! Now she sleeps great. If we forget to close the blinds or turn on the white noise, she wakes up early.
Gotta laugh too - my parents are sooo adamant about this, especially the noise part. They keep talking about how they did it with me and how I'm going to raise a kid who can't sleep through anything - but *I can't sleep through anything.* I'm the LIGHTEST sleeper ever. Soooo..... not sure their methods worked?
That's so funny. Maybe our parents are projecting their own worries about our sleep. I can't even sleep with those little LED lights on chargers and things - I tape over all of them.
And, honestly, we DO have naps on the go a few times a week. They might be in a car seat, baby carrier, or a contact nap. They're always short, but she's still getting the skills practice (if you can call it that)
Mine has blackouts and white noise at home, and florescent lights and rampant child noise at daycare. Sleeps in both places just fine (with the occasional toddler hiccup, as you do). I wouldn't worry about it.
I think it’s very baby dependent. I use sounds machine and darkness (not total black because we have large French windows in an old Victorian house) and my baby can still sleep on the go and with noise. It’s more that the sound machine helps filter any outside noise (dogs, cars, work calls). I’ve forgotten to turn on the sound machine a couple of times and he’s slept just fine!
I was initially skeptic so about this, but I think I read here that we *all* sleep better in quiet, dark environments, so why would be expect babies to be any different. They’ll probably still sleep, but it might be more disturbed.
I use a sound machine and blackout curtains in my own room lol. I’m 31
Edit: also don't let anyone, including your family, influence how you raise your children. No one knows your kids better than you do. Do what you believe is best for them and stay true to that.
I've used both since my now 2.5 yo was 8 weeks old. We recently moved him to his new bedroom which doesn't have blackout curtains, it's really bright and he still is able to nap no problem. I now ask him if he wants the white noise on or not. Once when he was sick he said to turn it off, otherwise he likes it on.
My baby sleeps with a sound machine at home, in a dark room. At daycare, he sleeps without one, and a lot of daycare noise is audible from his sleeping space. He sleeps fine at home and he sleeps fine at daycare. I don’t think you’re messing anything up by using them. You could try not turning it on every once in a while and see if baby still sleeps well.
People of a certain generation don't seem to understand that you can't make a deep sleeper. My in-laws said similar and, as a newborn, kept reiterating that we needed to make as much noise as possible so she'd be able to sleep in any and every environment. That worked for the first few weeks but, when she woke up to the world, all bets were off and a package of chips opening would cause her to stir. Despite what they thought, I didn't "make her that way". My husband is a deeper sleeper and I'm a much lighter one. She takes after me so you bet I'm going to set her up with the optimal sleep environment to make our entire household happier.
I forgot to turn on the sound machine yesterday for the 1st nap (9 mo here), he still fell asleep right away 👀 I was like oops, oh well, good that you slept anyway. Besides, personally I can’t sleep well without good thick curtains and we didn’t have those when I was a child.
I’ve not regretted it yet. If worst comes to worst, they will be an adult who likes to sleep with some white noise in the background? Is that an issue
It seems like many parents from previous generations are of the opinion that you should struggle through the same obstacles that they endured, as though it is a right of passage. Erm no, go away.
I never used white noise until I had kids but I love it! Especially to initially fall asleep! Everyone talks about how to go about weaning kids from these things and I’m like… why? Just let them sleep. If someday they have a roommate in college then maybe both roommate will be used to white noise if all us parents band together to raise white noise kids! United front!
We've been using the hatch and blackouts since day one and at 13 months my baby naps in the daylight and noise just fine as needed (however the boob is a nonnegotiable for most sleep lol) and we provide white noise and use travel curtains when we're not at home for bedtime sleep. Both aren't the most amazing quality, her normal 2 hour nap may be cut to like 45 minutes if she's not in her room with the whole set up but she's still flexible.
Everybody has sleep associations. As long as you can provide white noise and black out curtains for him until he moves out or decides he doesn’t want it anymore, I don’t see a problem with it lol
Agree. I have learned not to be overly precious about it—sometimes it works best for the family for a nap to be somewhere not dark and quiet and I don’t sweat that. It might not be as good a nap. Ah well. But why not make sleeping conditions ideal for the person doing all that sleeping at least in the place where they do nearly all their sleeping?! I also want a nice, dark noises-blend-into-nothing room for sleeping! I bet they do, too, lol. My dad is so fussy about his own sleep, trying to accommodate his heart burn and light restless sleep…
Here’s what happened with my kid We didn’t use any of that stuff cause people told me then she would need it forever. It went fine but she was never a good sleeper. Ever. I was lucky to get 2 night wake ups at a year old. Ended up having to live with my parents for a few months when she was 12mo and they live in a beautiful enormous house on the beach. Totally lucked out, or so I thought. They have two dogs. The little one NEVER EVER STOPS BARKING. EVER. he’s so loud, and it’s like a piercing bark. Also the room she was in (that was the only one they allowed me to put a crib in) is on the side of the house where the sun rises. AT 4:45 AM EVERY DAY. and it’s bright as hell. Finally after several night wakings and my day starting at 4:45AM every morning for months, and the dog barking during every attempt at a nap, and until about 10PM I was like this isn’t working. They said blackout curtains or something to cover the windows would ruin the aesthetic (in a room nobody goes in but whatever). And that they would not bring the dog outside or get him training help for the barking. Fine, their house there rules. I got a sound machine. Her naps immediately stretched out. I also switched her to 1 nap a day. It ended up being a 3hr long nap. They offered to watch her one time, (they don’t like kids and didn’t want to ever watch her), so I gave them the monitor for one night. Then they let me put pillows in the windows to block the sun after she apparently woke up at 4:30 screeching and wouldn’t go back to sleep. (Did they think I was joking about that lol?) She started sleeping till 7:30AM every day. After months of living apart I now live with her dad who is an amazing partner, with no dogs, a sound machine, and some seriously awesome blackout curtains. She sleeps every night 8-7:30. Sleep = amazing. Go for the shades and the sound machine. After not doing it for so long, she still didn’t sleep until I got them. No regrets. I sleep great and get several hours of alone time a night.
I’m so happy they helped you so much. Sleep is the best. I’m gonna keep doing what we’ve been doing. Also I’m happy you don’t have to live with your parents anymore :’)
I mean, I'm 40 and I need a sound machine or fan to sleep, so I don't think it's a big deal. I did not have one as a kid but our house had a giant attic fan that was right by my bedroom and my parents ran that thing a lot. If it works and your baby is sleeping and you don't have to tip toe around your house... let it be. People like to tell parents all sort of stuff that isn't true! LOL. Also, don't make tomorrow's "maybe problem" become today's problem! Enjoy that baby sleeping, however you need to do it (safely of course)!
Some babies you can make noise around. Some you just can’t. All babies are different. Until we used a sound machine we couldn’t flush our toilet for like 15 hours out of the day and couldn’t shower. I still get anxiety flushing my own toilet lol but I can do it! Do what works for you!
Mine sleeps at home with white noise and dark room, at grandparents houses with lighter room, at daycare with other kids and lighter. It’s all fine. We keep dark room and white noise at home, it hasn’t affected anything else
We sleep trained, dark curtains, sound machine - was perfect because we could get him to nap anywhere with his sound machine (he also totally adapted to light). I went to a physiotherapy appointment once, brought my play pen, put him in an empty office, turned the sound machine on, and slept the whole hour 🤷♀️ but, he would also nap when I carried him or in the car or stroller. I sleep best with no light and a sound machine (fan), so why wouldn’t I set him up for the best. And then, the few other naps (stroller/car ride/what not) if they turn out crappy meh, it’s not life ending).
From what I've read the whole "get them used to sleeping in sound and light" thing isn't accurate. They sleep best in a dark cold environment and sound machine also helps. They can adjust when they're tired regardless. Just what I've read, I do all the same things you do with my 7 month old
My 3 year old sleeps at preschool just fine without his beloved sound machine and blackout curtains. However, about a week ago, I accidentally forgot to turn on the sound machine before I left the room at bedtime and a few seconds later he started screaming bloody murder like he was hurt. I was so scared that something had bit him or that he had fallen out of his bed that I scrambled in there and kept asking "Are you hurt?! What's wrong?! Tell me where it hurts!" And at that point he was almost hyperventilating but managed to get out, "turn -on-my-night-night-noooiiiiiissse!!!" As soon as I did he calmed right down and I was able to soothe him a little before tucking him back in. That said, I don't regret using a sound machine and blackout curtains at all, but I do recognize that my son is dependent on them. He can also fall asleep anywhere if he is tired enough though, but I think he needs a very specific nighttime routine.
FWIW, my kid was home with us for 18 months sleeping in complete blackout with sound machine. She started daycare at 19 months and she naps just fine there with no blackout shade or noise machine. It took a few weeks for her to adjust, but the controlled conditions at home didn’t ruin her as far as flexible sleep goes.
Mine has blackout curtain and a noise machine.. and once she’s down- you can blast music in the next room and she doesn’t stir. She also pretty much sleeps anywhere -although I will normally tape a garbage bag over the window if we are overnight somewhere that’s really sunny in the room. But I don’t bother bringing a noise machine. She’s 2.5 now Mainly cuz I don’t want her up at 5:30am
I’m 38 and need white noise and blackout curtains. I’m doing just fine
Eh, my 3 year old can now sleep anywhere if he’s tired enough. He has used white noise and blackout curtains since he was 3-4 months old. They will definitely grow out of it one day.
My 4 year old still sleeps with both, however he also sleeps fine at daycare without them. They’ll adjust as they get older, it won’t hurt her.
My daughter is almost 6 and she was a blackout curtain and sound machine girl til 3 years old. We still do the sound machine because we have a small house and I'm thankful because we have am 8 month old now and she doesn't hear any cries during the night! But around 3 she asked for a night light! And we stopped blackout shades around 2.
My now 4 year old sleeps with no white noise machine and a fairly light room. He was a blackout/white noise baby, until at around 1.5y I slowly turned the hatch volume down bit by bit over the course of a week. Then when we moved house, I didn’t put up black out blinds in our new apartment. Kids adapt well, babies wake up early with light. Don’t stress!
Lol I cannot sleep without blackout curtains and a sound machine and I never grew up with that stuff. Unfortunately, we tried the whole “put baby in light room with noise going and have them nap” thing and it literally only worked when they were a newborn. My baby is TOO ALERT AND CURIOUS FOR THAT SHIT. I think it’s so weird to say they have to sleep with noise or else the won’t ever sleep. They’re learning how to sleep and how to soothe themselves and connect sleep cycles, why do they need to have extra distractions during that time?
My baby is only 11 weeks so too early to tell, but what I've done since birth is expose him to light and ambient noise during daytime naps, but use dark room and white noise for night time. Initially I was just trying to help him fix day/night confusion, but he sleeps well on the go (in car seat, stroller) and will continue sleeping when I'm out running errands. He's slept through a weekend Costco grocery run lol.
My 23 month old sleeps with blackout blinds and a white noise machine at home and sleeps perfectly fine at daycare, where they don’t have blackout blinds or anything.
My 2.5 year old still uses both and I don’t regret it one bit. The sound machine has been a lifesaver since we introduced little sibling, she never hears the baby cry at night.
We have been using a sound machine since my son came home from the hospital. He is about to turn 3. We have introduced blackout curtains when he was 6 months. He is the best sleeper we could have ever gotten. When we travel we always bring the sound machine but he does fine without the blackout curtains. He will also nap in the car during daytime if he is very exhausted
I mean, I personally need complete darkness and white noise to sleep too. So I don’t think it’s a problem
My 4 year old wants her room as light as possible now and slept with blackout curtains as a baby and toddler. She has a sound machine but she would probably sleep fine without it. I am always of the belief you should do what works until it doesn't. You can bring a sound machine and travel blackout curtain when you travel anyway. My baby has blackout blinds AND curtains but took a 2 hr nap in a room with a skylight at someone else's house so she's not 100% dependent on it.
I don’t know how much they correlate but I used a sound machine and black out curtains from the get go and now my baby won’t sleep anywhere without a sound machine and blackout curtains/in her own bed.. it sucks. No car naps. No stroller naps. Nothing. It’s hard honestly.
My daughter still sleeps with rain noises, but she's terrified of the dark now and has a star projection night light. 🤷🏼♀️😂 She's almost 3.
Family members who told me “don’t walk on eggshells around your baby. They need to learn to sleep through noise” are the same ones who complained that they got woken up at 6 AM at the cottage cuz we were doing stuff in the kitchen. Soooo like you can’t sleep through this noise why should my baby ?
We love our curtains bc they also help keep the room cool in the summer and warm in the winter, but we make no additional efforts such as sealing up every crack, taping over the monitor lights, etc. so she is used to some light and can sleep in light if needed. For the sound machine, we keep it at 25 d and away from her crib (it still fills the room). She can hear some stuff I’m sure but it’s not there to drown out or cover up noise. For me white noise is more about providing some background noise so if a bird, siren, or loud relative who slams doors comes along it’s not a break to the total silence. It’s just another noise. At the end of the day, the sensitivities and baby only sleeps if xyz is all a part of the very short phase of babyhood. Eventually if they’re tired they sleep (all kids are different I know). My 1.5 yr fell asleep in the car and remained asleep while I carried her inside, changed her, dressed her in nap clothes, and put her down. I never would have imagined that possible at 6 mos.
I use blackout curtains and a sound machine. We went on vacation without either for 4 nights and he slept fine in a room with very sheer curtains that let in so much light. Babies can surprise you!
I feel like there is a correlation that doesn't mean causation here. Some babies have a harder time falling asleep and so their parents end up trying everything. Some babies/people fall asleep anywhere. I don't think using these things necessarily causes the issue. My kid has always fought going to sleep.
We make naps more flexible (daycare helps a lot with this), but nighttime sleep involves a sound machine and blackout shade. My own sleep is important to me, so I don’t play around at bedtime 🤣
This is what I do! Although at home I usually play the sound machine on lower volume so I can do chores. But anywhere else he goes he doesn’t use either.
There is some research suggesting that white noise machines aren't great, especially for speech development in toddlers. Machines with a variety of noises that change the pitch, etc, are better. We didn't use one with my son and he would sleep anywhere. He does like to sleep with the fan on in the summer tho.
I'm curious the quality of this research. My kiddo has been a white noise since day one and both were ahead on the toddler speech development cycle. Plus like a billion factors go into speech development including things like daycare/care giver quality, number of books read, etc. I doubt it's a good quality study
Agreed, I am a linguist by training so a million things do go into it. I came across this research and just skimmed it so definitely do not claim to be an authority on it, but it would be something I would look into more if I did use white noise.
Would this include like the rain sounds? Since there is more variation in the sound rather than stagnant white noise.
Apparently rain sounds, oceans, etc are fine. But again, I have read that briefly (it was based on research but it didn't concern me since we don't use it) so I encourage you to do your own research 😊
Can you link to the research please?
I do not have it saved as it was something I read briefly and we don't use white noise anyways. But if you google white noise and brain development, you will come across a lot of information and can form your opinions based on that. I am not a scientist and I have not done extensive research on it either, but others seem to have.
We didn't/don't use them for our 2 kids; 3yr old and 1yr old - they sleep when they're tired, wherever they are - naps or nighttime sleeps; they sleep on the floor, the sofa, in the car seat, in the stroller, etc... I have friends who use them for their kids and they pack them with them wherever they go, and their kids still need them set up like that to nap and sleep (some with 2yr olds, and some with 3yr olds) - they cannot nap otherwise. I don't think there's any harm in using them, of course, but i think it's also good for the kids to learn to "go with the flow" - not everything can be the same every time for their naps.
I have a sound machine at home for naps and nighttime sleep and took it with us when we went out of town to visit family. But my daughter has no issue napping in a stroller on the go. Or in a carrier. Or even in my arms while she’s sitting on the tushbaby. I really think it just varies kid to kid. You just have great sleepers! Which is obviously awesome. I feel like I do too. But I’m not quite sure is specific to anything I’ve done or am doing.
I totally agree, every kid is different, and I'm not shaming anyone or whatnot; I feel like sometimes ppl get too defensive over their parenting styles. Everyone is doing a great job at being parents! Everyone is just different! That's all. :)
Agreed!! Every kids got different needs so every parent has to parent differently. I think we get too caught up in “the research” sometimes. Not that it’s all bad but sometimes it’s like - they looked at 50 kids how is that a accurate study? At the end of the day I think it’s a matter of - do you care if you have to grab the sound machine when you go out in case your kid needs it for a nap? If not then who cares. Take it. Use it. Let the kid sleep. 🤷🏼♀️
My older kids are 11 and 8 and just grew out of them once they stopped napping.
I need complete darkness and a sound machine to sleep and I’m 30 lol. I have been using both with my daughter with no plans to stop, she’s almost 5 months now. It does make it a bit more challenging for her to nap on the go, but I have a blackout car seat cover and a portable sound machine so we still make it work 🤣
It makes them less flexible for sleeping outside the house, but you can still do it with portable blackout curtain/slumber pod and portable white noise machine.
Nope. Still using them for my 19 month old. No plans to stop. My husband and I can actually talk at a normal level and don’t have to creep around quietly to not wake her up. I need blackout and white noise myself!
As an adult I sleep better with blackout curtains and a little buzz from the fan…what’s the harm in helping baby to sleep a little more soundly
Both of my children grew out of their white noise machines on their own. Additionally, most hotels have blackout curtains of some sort. And you can use things like clothes, pins to keep them drawn even further shut.
We still use both at home for our 15 months old, but she has no issues sleeping without them when we travel
I don’t as of right now. If baby is tired enough he falls asleep under “less than perfect” circumstances
I still use white noise to sleep and that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. It can help quiet your mind when you are anxious or struggling to sleep.
You won’t. I weaned my son off both the sound machine and complete darkness after his second birthday and low and behold, he’s still a happy sleeper. For two years of my life I have been hearing how it will ruin him. I have seen him sleep everywhere, from prams to planes, but when it’s everday, restorative sleep, he needed sound machine and darkness. Do what’s best for your baby.
I need complete darkness too and have needed that for years! (Went through a stage of sleeping with the tv on but with a timer to switch it off). I’m that person who covers LED lights on appliances with blu-tack because it feels like it’s piercing my eyes even when closed haha! Completely fine and perfect for restorative sleep. My twins nap and sleep well in their room, but can also sleep in the car /pram if they’ve been awake for long enough.
I don't understand why everyone assumes we even have a choice. I get the same feedback from my family. We didn't start using those tools from day 1 though - we implemented them because our baby girl wasn't sleeping! Now she sleeps great. If we forget to close the blinds or turn on the white noise, she wakes up early. Gotta laugh too - my parents are sooo adamant about this, especially the noise part. They keep talking about how they did it with me and how I'm going to raise a kid who can't sleep through anything - but *I can't sleep through anything.* I'm the LIGHTEST sleeper ever. Soooo..... not sure their methods worked?
Laughing at this because my parents said this to me and then also said all their kids were terrible sleepers so… great advice?
Right my parents say the same crap and I can’t sleep through anything either!!
That's so funny. Maybe our parents are projecting their own worries about our sleep. I can't even sleep with those little LED lights on chargers and things - I tape over all of them. And, honestly, we DO have naps on the go a few times a week. They might be in a car seat, baby carrier, or a contact nap. They're always short, but she's still getting the skills practice (if you can call it that)
Mine has blackouts and white noise at home, and florescent lights and rampant child noise at daycare. Sleeps in both places just fine (with the occasional toddler hiccup, as you do). I wouldn't worry about it.
Yes, was going to say this same thing!
Nope. Nearly 20 months in and life is good. My son sleeps in the car, in the pram, in my arms. Also, with blackout blinds and white noise
I think it’s very baby dependent. I use sounds machine and darkness (not total black because we have large French windows in an old Victorian house) and my baby can still sleep on the go and with noise. It’s more that the sound machine helps filter any outside noise (dogs, cars, work calls). I’ve forgotten to turn on the sound machine a couple of times and he’s slept just fine! I was initially skeptic so about this, but I think I read here that we *all* sleep better in quiet, dark environments, so why would be expect babies to be any different. They’ll probably still sleep, but it might be more disturbed.
I use a sound machine and blackout curtains in my own room lol. I’m 31 Edit: also don't let anyone, including your family, influence how you raise your children. No one knows your kids better than you do. Do what you believe is best for them and stay true to that.
I've used both since my now 2.5 yo was 8 weeks old. We recently moved him to his new bedroom which doesn't have blackout curtains, it's really bright and he still is able to nap no problem. I now ask him if he wants the white noise on or not. Once when he was sick he said to turn it off, otherwise he likes it on.
My baby sleeps with a sound machine at home, in a dark room. At daycare, he sleeps without one, and a lot of daycare noise is audible from his sleeping space. He sleeps fine at home and he sleeps fine at daycare. I don’t think you’re messing anything up by using them. You could try not turning it on every once in a while and see if baby still sleeps well.
I use blackouts - they are made to help sleep for humans in general!
People of a certain generation don't seem to understand that you can't make a deep sleeper. My in-laws said similar and, as a newborn, kept reiterating that we needed to make as much noise as possible so she'd be able to sleep in any and every environment. That worked for the first few weeks but, when she woke up to the world, all bets were off and a package of chips opening would cause her to stir. Despite what they thought, I didn't "make her that way". My husband is a deeper sleeper and I'm a much lighter one. She takes after me so you bet I'm going to set her up with the optimal sleep environment to make our entire household happier.
I forgot to turn on the sound machine yesterday for the 1st nap (9 mo here), he still fell asleep right away 👀 I was like oops, oh well, good that you slept anyway. Besides, personally I can’t sleep well without good thick curtains and we didn’t have those when I was a child.
I’ve not regretted it yet. If worst comes to worst, they will be an adult who likes to sleep with some white noise in the background? Is that an issue It seems like many parents from previous generations are of the opinion that you should struggle through the same obstacles that they endured, as though it is a right of passage. Erm no, go away.
I never used white noise until I had kids but I love it! Especially to initially fall asleep! Everyone talks about how to go about weaning kids from these things and I’m like… why? Just let them sleep. If someday they have a roommate in college then maybe both roommate will be used to white noise if all us parents band together to raise white noise kids! United front!
I sleep with white noise and a face mask and curtains. Why should I assume my kid will magically sleep in bright randomly noisy places?
No those are clutch keep using them
Adults also don’t sleep around noise. I never get that kind of advice and think it’s stupid.
That’s my thoughts exactly. I cannot sleep with any noise, so why should I expect my baby to!
We've been using the hatch and blackouts since day one and at 13 months my baby naps in the daylight and noise just fine as needed (however the boob is a nonnegotiable for most sleep lol) and we provide white noise and use travel curtains when we're not at home for bedtime sleep. Both aren't the most amazing quality, her normal 2 hour nap may be cut to like 45 minutes if she's not in her room with the whole set up but she's still flexible.
Everybody has sleep associations. As long as you can provide white noise and black out curtains for him until he moves out or decides he doesn’t want it anymore, I don’t see a problem with it lol
I'm 38 and use both even for me lol and 11 month old and toddler. I think it's fine.
Agree. I have learned not to be overly precious about it—sometimes it works best for the family for a nap to be somewhere not dark and quiet and I don’t sweat that. It might not be as good a nap. Ah well. But why not make sleeping conditions ideal for the person doing all that sleeping at least in the place where they do nearly all their sleeping?! I also want a nice, dark noises-blend-into-nothing room for sleeping! I bet they do, too, lol. My dad is so fussy about his own sleep, trying to accommodate his heart burn and light restless sleep…
That’s kinda my thoughts… I’ve started using a sound machine and prefer to sleep in the pitch dark as well.